In Year 2, we recently stepped back into the times of the Victorian era to kick off our Florence Nightingale big question. We all got dressed up into all sorts of Victorian outfits. We had a whole range... from chimney sweeps, maids, poor boys, rich school girls and even a policeman! We started the day by paying for our education using a Victorian penny and then went onto looking at the different Victorian school rules, including cleanliness, standing up to answer questions, the dunce hat and much more!
We then went on to looking at the ways in which Victorians would have had their lessons. We tried Victorian-style handwriting, using chalk and a blackboard and then in maths, we used marbles and sticks to support our addition number sentences. We then practiced these number sentences by chanting them, just like they would have done all those years ago!
In the afternoon, we then had time to try out a range of Victorian toys, which included spinning tops, marbles, jacks, pick-up sticks and lots more! We also talked about how for some lessons, the girls and the boys would have been split to do different things. This led us onto practicing some sewing techniques.
To finish our day, we finished with some simple cooking, creating a trifle and talking all about the foods that Victorians would have had and made.
Overall, as I'm sure you will agree from the photos, it was a fantastic day and the children took to their Victorian roles amazingly! A huge thank you to parents for putting in so much effort with the costumes too!
